


Corrine: Lost and Found

by slaysvamps



Series: Corrine Wright Chronicles [7]
Category: World of Darkness (Games)
Genre: F/M, Half-Damned: Dhampyr, Mage: The Ascension - Freeform, Vampire: The Masquerade - Freeform, World of Darkness: Sorcerer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-09-30 09:22:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20444822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slaysvamps/pseuds/slaysvamps
Summary: Corrine lost the father she never really knew, and has to watch Eliza try and get back on her feet with the Tremere searching for their lost ghoul. Then the unthinkable happens when two brothers return from the grave. Can the family survive the course of Mac's destiny?





	1. Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> While we have used the names of some celebrities and their likenesses this is not an RPF.
> 
> This story was written by a friend of mine and she should get all the credit. Unfortunately, she does not have an AO3 profile, so I can't tag her, but she knows who she is!

_But now no matter where I go_  
_I always seem to return_  
_ Poe - Spanish Doll_

### March, 2001

Spring finally came to New England. Well, the first signs of spring anyhow. The days were getting warmer and the snow that had blanketed the city was making its last-ditch attempt to hold on for another day. March had come in like and lion, but by the looks of things, it would become a lamb soon enough.

I had just taken my last final for the semester and was looking forward to some time off of classes so that I could visit Eliza for longer than a weekend like I had been. I noticed the answering machine flashing like crazy when I entered my apartment, signaling the fact that I had multiple messages. I put my knapsack down on the floor next to the table where the phone and answering machine were and pushed play.

Most of them were the normal fare, Samantha calling to see how my Psychology II final had gone. We had been up late the night before working on a spell that Rachel and Jared had given us to learn and I had arrived home just in time to take a shower and leave for my class in Boston.

The next message was from Jared, who wanted to remind me that he expected me to be looking at the book he had given me the last time I had seen him.

Then came the first of three messages from my grandparents in Ireland.

My Grandfather was first. _“Corrine, honey. Give us a call when you get home. It’s important.”_

Next, my Grandmother’s voice came over the speaker. _“Corrine? Are you home? It’s Gran.”_ There was some kind of a scuffle in the background, and she paused to scold whoever the offender was who dared interrupt her when she was making a call_. “No, you’ll not out of the blue say hello. Honestly.”_ Then I heard her voice return to the receiver again. _“Just call us when you get home, luv.”_

Finally, my Grandfather called again, and I smiled as I imagined him standing in the kitchen, talking on the wall phone that looked like it had hung there for many, many years. _“It’s just me again, Corrine. Don’t want to alarm you but give us a call when you get this.”_

I couldn’t hold back the grin as I picked up my phone and dialed the now familiar Irish phone number. As the call connected I shed my coat and scarf and shouldered my knapsack again to transport it to the chair at my desk so I could unpack the contents when I was finished with my call.

My Grandfather answered and his gusto nearly knocked my over despite the fact that we were thousands of miles apart. “Corrine, we’d like you to come over right away,” he blurted. “Bring enough of your things to stay a couple of days. I can open a gateway for you right now.” He wasn't upset, in fact he sounded a great deal happier than I had heard him in a long while.

I tried to stifle my laughter since his obvious good mood was so contagious. “Grandfather, I don’t understand. What’s going on? Is everyone alright?” I wondered if Siofra were pregnant again or something. That would be good news for everyone, and the Goddess knew we deserved something to celebrate.

“Everyone is fine, more than fine,” he assured me. I could hear the smile in his voice and other voices in the background. It sounded like there was a party going on. “Just come to stay with us for a few days,” he went on. “You’ll understand everything when you get here. How long before you’ll be ready?”

My other hand was buried in my hair in a baffled gesture because I was trying to figure out what the heck is going on. My Grandfather was acting really weird and not offering any explanation. “Um… give me twenty minutes I think and that should be enough time. Is Eliza there?” I asked in an afterthought as I pulled out a suitcase from the closet.

“Yes, she’s here,” he replied with a laugh. “Everyone’s here. I’ll open the gateway in twenty minutes then. Plan on staying through the weekend, all right?”

I laughed then at the absurdity of the situation. “All right,” I told him. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Wonderful, we’ll be ready for you.” He hung up then and I returned the cordless phone to its base and started to throw clothes in the bag. I don’t know how I managed, but I was able to pack, call Jared to tell him I was visiting my parents in Maine and secure my apartment for the time I would be gone.

Right on time, a portal opened in the doorway to my bathroom. On the other side I could see my grandparent’s kitchen and the two of them standing in the center, looking very excited. I could also hear lots of voices coming from what sounded like the living room and I assumed that maybe Glenn and Siofra were here as well. In actuality, when the portal closed I saw that Eliza was standing by the table, with a large gray wolf that I didn’t recognize and Eddie sitting close to the doorway into the hall.

The wolf looked vaguely familiar to me, but there wasn’t a blazing cross on his chest, so I knew that it wasn’t my cousin, Stephen. There was something otherworldly about him, like he wasn’t really a wolf at all. He didn’t seem like a werewolf, he was almost more human in fact, or inhuman. It was hard to nail down with a glance. He stood and walked over to me as Eliza did the same and gave me a hug. She looked really happy, the happiest I had seen her in a long time. She was almost glowing.

I hugged her back as I looked at my grandparents. “Okay, why is everyone grinning like they know some big secret? What’s going on?”

Eliza glanced over her shoulder at my grandparents and led me over to them where they stood by the table. The wolf sniffed at me as I walked by, and then turned to go to the living room where it sounded like a lively conversation was going on. Eddie followed him.

“Sit down, luv,” Eliza said as she pulled out a chair. “I have something to tell you that I know you’re going to have a hard time believing.”

“Hopefully she won’t faint,” Siofra interjected with a smile as she entered the room, and I watched, baffled as Eliza blushed at her comment. “How are you doing, Corrine?” Siofra asked as she came over and kissed my cheek.

“Fine. Thank you,” I replied with a smile as I put my hand on her shoulder companionably. “How about yourself?” She nodded as I sat in the chair Eliza had pulled out and I looked at all the beaming faces around me. “What is going on?” I asked, a laugh coming through my voice.

Everyone glanced in Eliza’s direction expectantly, but it looked like she didn’t know what to say. “Look, sometimes things just happen that we don’t have an explanation for,” she said finally. She was glowing in a way, but very serious as well. She reached out and took one of my hands in both of hers. “Things that at first just don’t seem possible, but for real now, they do happen. Do you understand what I’m saying?” She waited for some kind of acknowledgement or nod from me, but I didn’t know where she was going with all this.

“Not really,” I said slowly. “Why don’t you just tell me what’s happened?”

Eliza took a deep breath before she continued. “Siofra did something when she was younger that didn’t exactly work the way she wanted it to. When Mac… died,” her voice hesitated as she spoke, but the word doesn’t seem to affect her the way it had been in the past few months, “the spell was triggered. Mac and Angus, well, they came back.”

I looked up at the four of them in confusion and found that everyone was watching me closely, almost as if they expected me to faint or something. What I did notice was that the conversations that had been going on in the living room when I had first arrived seemed to have quieted.

“What do you mean they’re back?” I asked, my eyes narrowed suspiciously, and I was sure I was looking at every one of them like they were losing their minds. I found it hard to believe that any of them, Eliza especially, would joke about something like this. I knew that we could do magick, but bringing someone back from the dead? Even that was stretching things.

“They’re back,” Eliza said softly, trying to convince me. “They’re here. I wouldn’t lie to you, Corrine, Mac is alive.”

I knew that Eliza would have never lied to me about something like this. Suddenly the male voices that were coming from the living room made an odd sense. Without a word to any of them, I stood and quickly turned to move toward the doorway to the living room.

And there he was, larger than life. I froze in place, my hand still half in Eliza’s as my eyes made contact with Mac from where he was standing in the doorway. The wolf was sitting at his feet. It was confusing to see him in the daylight since I had only known him in the shadows of night before this, but it was a good confusion.

A shorter man nudged Mac from behind until he pushed his way into the kitchen where he stood and crossed his arms over his chest. I recognized Uncle Angus from family pictures that Grandmother had shown to me during my stays with them, but to see him alive and grinning was like knowing him for the first time.

“Is this the wee one ye’ve been hiding all these years?” he asked with a grin and a thick Irish brogue. “She’s prettier than Stephen, isn’t she?”

“That she is,” Mac says softly, looking only at me for the moment. “Hello, Corrine.”

I took a hesitant step toward him. “Mac?” I croaked out.

I watched in bewilderment as he crossed the room until he stood in front of me and I lifted my hand to my mouth in shock. He reached out and put his hands on my upper arms. He seemed real enough, his hands felt cold at first through my shirt, but they warmed as we looked at each other. “You’re not going to faint, are you, luv?” he asked with a smile.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The hand at my mouth reached out to make contact with his shoulder as the other one went to first his chest, and then his cheek. “I don’t understand….” I managed to choke out, tears of happiness beginning to form in my eyes.

Given the mind-boggling circumstances, I needed to be sure of what I was seeing. I reached out with Life and Spirit to see if I could recognize anything that would lead me to believe that it wasn’t Mac standing there. There was a cold resonance coming from him, almost as if it was a part of him now, but he wasn’t possessed in any way. As far as I could tell it was him.

Amazingly back from the dead.

The skin on his face was cool to the touch at first, but the longer I touched him the warmer he became. It was the first time in my life that I had ever felt him this way and it was amazing to me. He was breathing. I was torn between the desire to walk into his arms and to just look at him forever. I was afraid he would leave again.

He pulled me to him and hugged me close. “I’m not sure I do either, but right now it doesn’t matter. I’m here.”

I let myself go limp against him, my arms winding around his waist to hold on for dear life as I buried my face in his neck. He smelled like the soap my grandmother always kept in the bathroom upstairs and his cheek was slightly rough from his growth of beard, something else I had never experienced with him.

I just let him hold me for as long as possible as my tears poured from my eyes. I allowed myself to forget the horror that the past few months had been and to let him be the strong one for a minute.

It was the first time that I felt like his little girl.

No one else in the room existed in those minutes while Mac held me and my tears subsided, as he whispered that everything was all right and that he was sorry.

Finally, I pulled away from him, wiping my eyes and laughing a little between sniffles. “I’m sorry to be such a big baby,” I told him.

Mac helped me wipe my eyes with a wide grin that lit up his face. “At least you didn’t faint.” He turned then to look at Uncle Angus and said, “Corrine, this sorry excuse of a werewolf is your Uncle Angus.”

My uncle sauntered over then to pull me into a large hug. “Hello, Corrinemackenzie.”

“Uncle Angus,” I said with a smile as I leaned back in his strong arms. “I’m so glad to meet you.” He was a good head shorter than Mac, but what he lacked in height he made up for in strength by the look of him. His shoulders were broad and muscular under my hands and his eyes were blue and twinkled with a mischief that I knew he had been famous for before his death. His smile was wide and infectious and just being close to him pushed the last of my somber mood away.

I looked around. “Is Stephen here? Aunt Cara?”

In fact, everyone had come home to welcome back the pair of brothers and we were all standing in the spacious kitchen, exchanging hugs and well wishes, everyone happy to see the brothers alive and well once again. My Aunt Cara was glowing like Eliza was as she moved to stand next to her husband and put a protective arm around his waist.

“Everyone’s here,” my grandfather said proudly as he looked at both of his sons and the family that had gathered together. A blur of conversation began as nearly everyone started to talk at once and I sat back to watch them, a content smile on my lips. I watched as Glenn came over to Siofra with Ian in his arms and kissed her cheek. My Grandmother was putting on a full kettle for tea and checking the roast that she had been preparing all day for us. Mac and Uncle Angus seemed to be regarding the family closely as well. I watched as they shared private glances with one another over one joke or another from childhood stories and it was obvious that they were content to be for the moment.

~*~*~*~*~

For the most part that first night I spent time with my Grandfather and Stephen, since I rarely saw him. I knew that Mac and Eliza needed to be together and that I would have a chance to talk with him when the time was right. We all sat down at my Grandmother’s large table to eat and I made sure that I was next to Grandfather so I could ask him how all this had come about.

He shot a half reproachful, half grateful look at Siofra. “It seems someone was determined not to lose her brothers,” he answered, and my aunt dropped her head a little and smiled covertly. “The spell was a little too advanced for her at the time, but I find I can’t reprimand her for trying it, not when I’ve got my boys back.” He beamed down the table at the two of them. “They showed up at the house here yesterday morning, a bit cold, but none the worse for their trials, for the most part.”

It didn’t surprise me that Siofra would have been rebellious enough to attempt magick that others said was beyond her. She was a strong woman, as I was beginning to understand. Silently I thanked her for her work as well. Being the one responsible for bringing Mac back to Eliza helped her to again more points in my eyes. I was glad that we were becoming better acquainted.

The strange wolf stayed close to Mac during the evening as well. I asked Grandfather about the animal and Mac overheard me and answered himself. “He’s here to guide me to my destiny, or some such,” he said dryly as he looked down at the wolf. “Say hello to my daughter, Gwrhyr.”

The wolf, who had seemed to eye me since I had arrived, came over to me and raised a paw. _“Greetings, Corrine Mackenzie,”_ I heard in my head. _“I have heard tell of you.”_

To say that I was a little freaked out by the strange voice in my head would be a small admission, but not totally something out of the blue. I slid out of my chair so that I knelt respectfully eye level with him and held out my hand to take his paw. “It is my pleasure to meet you, Gwrhyr. I’m sure that whatever Mac has told you about me is slightly biased given that he is my father,” I said out loud as I looked across the table to where Mac sat, and he winked at me. “I look forward to not only getting to know you but spending more time with him as well. Did you help bring him and Uncle Angus back to us?”

_“It was not my privilege to do so,”_ the wolf replied in my mind. _“I have seen your life path written in the cliffs of the deep umbra.”_ He tilted his head a little to eye me knowingly. _“You have much to seek, and you will be sought much.”_

I felt my brow wrinkle slightly as I looked at him questioningly. “My life path? What do you mean I have much to seek?”

I heard Eliza lean close to Mac and say, “I take it she can hear it too?” Mac glanced over at her and smiled.

_“It is not my function to guide you on your path,” _the wolf said in answer to my question. _“Your Avatar is strong and will guide you true.”_ He turned his eyes toward Mac. _“My purpose is to steer this one to his destiny. The spirits have seen that he needs aid if he is to fulfill his duty.”_

I changed tactics and asked my next question silently, _“What is his duty? Can I be of some help to him?”_

_“His duty is his own, but aid you may be, in time, when the Cliffs of Garelan run red, when the seeker is found, when the seed has been sown.”_ With that said he dropped his paw from my hand and went off to sit next to Mac again, doing his best to look like a normal wolf, but not quite making it. Eddie was following the wolf like a shadow and lay down next to Gwrhyr on his back, wanting to play. The wolf started to rough house with him gently until the puppy yipped in delight.

I made a mental note to jot down all that he had told me in my journal when I had the chance as I slid back into my chair. Gwrhyr had tweaked my curiosity about what he was, so I felt out to him with Spirit in the hopes that I might sense something. I didn’t get much. After about three minutes of feeling around him, all I could put together was that he felt like an Avatar of sorts, but not quite. Actually, he felt like this cat that I knew of that belonged to some mages in Salem, whatever that meant.

Dinner was winding down and talk quickly turned to going to the pub in town for drinks. I agreed to go as well, but I needed time to clear my head in order to process all that I had learned in the past few hours before heading out. I decided to take Eddie with me and as I hooked his leash on, Eliza warned me to not be gone long since they would be leaving in a few hours. She and Stephen asked if I wanted company, but I told them both no. I needed to be alone.

Some invisible force pulled me toward the cemetery. For some morbid reason I just had to see the place where Mac had lain up until the day before. I closed the gate of the white fence that surrounded the family graveyard and in the semidarkness I could just make out the disturbance in the snow. Fresh dirt was mixed with the white powder and the setting made me feel eerie. It was obvious that Mac had to dig himself out of the earth and my heart lurched with the knowledge.

I had visited Mac’s grave many times after his death, but this was the first time I was almost scared to be there. My eyes moved over toward Uncle Angus’ grave and I saw that the disturbance there was larger than Mac’s, leading me to believe that he had to have been in Crinos when he clawed his way out. Bare, male footprints led from Uncle Angus’ grave to Mac’s as if they stood and talked for a time before moving off toward the house.

I turned back as well. Seeing the graves had left me feeling a little creeped out and the knowledge that Mac and Uncle Angus had to fight their way out of them didn’t sit well, either. What was important was that they were back and with us, their family. The nightmare was over.


	2. A Little One on One with Uncle Angus

_ **Father:** _   
_Hello tiger, it's fun, talking with you_   
_like this--in fact I'm going to do it more often_   
_ Poe - If You Were Here_

I stayed a week in Galway after Mac’s return. I was really looking forward to getting a second chance with Mac and to get to know my uncle as well. The outlook of the entire family changed so much with Mac and Uncle Angus back in the fold that it was really hard to remember the wake and funeral that had taken place here just a few short months ago.

Eliza was like a new person. Gone were the lines of worry and sadness from her eyes and for the first time that I could remember, she looked like a young woman with the whole world in front of her. I loved to watch her and Mac interact with each other. It was like watching them for the first time. He was so much more laid back now and she was the happiest I had ever seen her, even though she didn’t like to let him out of her sight.

The biggest thing that I noticed about Mac was that he never missed a sunrise. He spent a great deal of time with the wolf, too, which I guess didn’t surprise me much since Gwrhyr was supposed to be helping him with his destiny and new powers.

I soon learned that Mac hadn’t come back as a mage like he had been before he was made a vampire. When I asked Grandfather why, he told me that Mac’s Avatar had been shattered when he was made a vampire and there was no way that he could ever be a mage again, in this life or those to follow. So, the powers-that-be had decided to send him back as what was called a Sorcerer. I’m not quite sure what that exactly was, but my Grandfather seemed really sad about it, so I didn’t want to question him further. Instead I accepted what he told me and made a note to ask Rachel or Jared what they were when I returned to Salem.

I’m not sure how it happened, but one morning I came out of the back door and found Eliza and Uncle Angus fighting on the lawn. I was alarmed at first and wondered why no one around them moved to stop the two since Mac, Glenn and Siofra were all standing around watching them. I quickly realized that they weren’t ‘fighting’ so much as ‘sparring’ as Eliza called it later, but the way they were going at each other seemed real enough to me.

Uncle Angus was in his human form and hit Eliza with a particularly fierce upper cut that made her stumble backward.

“Take it easy on me, all right?” she called out with a good-nature smile as she settled back into a fighting stance. “It’s been about three months since I threw down.”

“That’s some kind of record for you, isn’t it?” Mac shot out from the deck where he stood next to me.

Her smile widened slightly, but she kept her eyes on Uncle Angus. “Yeah, it is.”

“Have ye been working out?” Uncle Angus asked, obviously getting winded from the match.

“Well, yeah, I gotta be prepared, you know?” she shot back.

He seemed a little surprised at her answer and lowered his hands slightly. “For what?”

“Fighting werewolves.”

“Just don’t hurt Angus,” Mac told her sternly in a tone that made me smile. When Uncle Angus laughed out loud, his voice took on a harder note. “Don’t hurt her either.”

Eliza ended up sparring with Glenn, Cara and Stephen while I stood there watching. I was surprised though when Mac came forward and she begged off, saying she was tired and needed a drink. She didn’t fool me, however, when Uncle Angus came forward, boasting how it was time for him to wipe the dirt with Mac’s carcass again like he used to do when they were “wee bairns” as he put it. I saw how she watched the two of them fight with an anxious look in her eyes that said she was barely holding herself from stopping the two brothers all together. Even by using only his brawl and wits Mac managed to hold his own during the match and walked away with a few minor bruises and cuts.

~*~*~*~*~

I was really looking forward to getting to know my uncle. In the short amount of time that I had been able to spend with him I’d already figured out that he was very funny, incredibly good natured and usually called everyone by a nickname rather than by their given one. Siofra was Sprite and he usually called Mac, Macalister, and Aunt Cara was Cara Mia. Lass or Lassie was what he usually called me, and I loved it when he and Aunt Cara would come in from their house and he would call out warm greetings for everyone.

One morning, about midway through the week I got my chance for some one on one time when my Grandmother asked me to go into town to the grocery store for her.

“With all the extra people around, my pantry is nearly empty,” she said as she handed me the list. Just then, Uncle Angus came into the kitchen as well to refill his teacup. He and Aunt Cara and Stephen, who was staying the week in Galway as well, had arrived about an hour ago and the whole family was sitting on the back deck and sipping the secret blend of tea that my Grandmother had been making for the last twenty years. She claimed it helped give you long life, but I didn’t know whether to believe her or not.

“Take Angus with you,” Grandmother said, taking his cup from his outstretched hand as he was reaching toward the kettle that she always kept full of the tea now that her sons had returned.

“Take me where, Ma?” he asked as she walked his cup to the sink and rinsed it out.

“I’ve asked Corrinemackenzie to run into town for me,” she informed him as she put the cup in the sink and turned to face us. “She’ll need help and since you’ve finished your tea-”

“Of course, I’ll go with her,” he said as he dropped a quick peck on her cheek and straightened again to look at me. “Come on then, lass,” he said as he swept close to me and wrapped an arm around my waist so that he could grandly dance the both of us toward the front door. “An outing with yer uncle, can ye handle bein’ seen with the likes of me, lass?”

“Be careful, son,” Grandmother called out before I had a chance to respond. “Corrine isn’t used to wild drivers the likes of you. Don’t you be scarin’ the girl.”

“I won’t Ma,” he bellowed back as he looked at me and rolled his eyes, his grin widening.

In a matter of minutes, we were in my grandparent’s car and on our way to town, my uncle humming along with the old Irish folksong that was playing on the radio. I looked at the opportunity as a way to pick his brain to see if I could get some answers.

“Do you know anything about this destiny that Mac has to fulfill?” I asked as I looked out the side window, trying to appear to be making conversation.

Uncle Angus shrugged, keeping his gaze on the road ahead. “I’ve heard what Glenn’s Ma said about him. Most people think he’s fulfilled that one, so I don’t know what they want with him now.”

I thought that I remembered something about Glenn’s mother being a mage, but the particulars slipped my mind for a moment. “Glenn’s mother?” I asked, looking over at him. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“They say she was a great seer, before the vampires killed her,” Uncle Angus replied solemnly as he turned onto the main road that led to town. “I never met her, but she knew Da long before any of us was born. Sent Da home to Ireland to find Ma. I’m surprised ye haven’t heard the tale.”

That’s where I had heard of her before. Abrianna Landry was the renowned seer of her generation, just as my friend Samantha was of ours. She had been killed by vampires many years ago and her murder was what had provoked Glenn to begin hunting them, long before he had met Mac or Eliza. I also remembered the story of how she had met my Grandfather in the south of France some years ago and she sent him back to Ireland so he could meet my Grandmother. It was a romantic love story that I’d heard almost every time I came to Ireland to visit.

I snapped my fingers, recognizing now who my uncle was talking about. “That’s right. I’d forgotten that she was Glenn’s mom. It’s too bad… you know… the way she died.” _So, she had seen something in Mac, huh?_ I wondered to myself.

Before I could ask what the seer’s vision had contained Uncle Angus muttered, “Bloody vampires. Always mucking up things that aren’t to their liking. Still, it was part of Mac’s destiny, I suppose, so we can’t be too hard on the fiends, seeing as how he was one. Glad I missed that bit of his life.” He glanced over at me as he drove. “None of us really know what destiny’s got in store for him now. The wolf’s not real talkative when it comes to spilling the beans on that subject.”

I studied him for a moment silently, and I suddenly realized how long he had been dead and what it must be like now for him to suddenly be thrust back into his life so abruptly. He was still the same person, but everyone else had moved on and had other experiences he hadn’t witnessed. They had created a new life that didn’t include him. “Do you remember anything from when you were gone?” I asked in a soft voice.

Dead silence permeated the inside of the car for a moment, and I wondered if I had asked the wrong thing. “Aye,” he replied after a minute.

“I’m sorry,” I said, gulping uncomfortably. “It’s just that I’ve never known anyone who was… you know… except for maybe my Avatar, but I guess that’s different. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

He glanced at me again. “Tis all right, lass. Death comes to us all, it’s natural to be curious about it, but I’d hate to darken yer day with tales of the other side. Its happiness ye should be considering now with me and your Da back among the living.”

I smiled back at him, glad that he wasn’t offended by my questions. “What was Mac like as a kid?”

Uncle Angus shook his head in mock sadness. “Always getting in trouble, that one. Running after the lasses and so sure of his own worth that he was always forgetting what he was supposed to be doing.” He paused for a moment, and then grinned in my direction. “Or maybe that was me I’m thinking of.”

His features turned serious and I could see that the question was taking him back in time to when he and Mac were children. “Macalister was a serious lad, always concerned with the ‘right’ thing to be doing. Never had a lick of fun unless I dragged him into it, kicking and wailing like a babe, for all he was older than me. Trying to keep Sprite wrapped in that pretty bubble she was living in when I kept telling him she had to face the hard realities some time.”

I could tell from his half smile that this second story wasn’t exactly the truth, but it was a whole lot closer than the first one and in that instant I think I loved him the most for the way he told it. When he was teasing a little and telling the truth at the same time. I mourned for the time I hadn’t had Mac in my life when I was a child. It was unfair to both of us that I had to learn about him from my uncle, rather then experiencing it for myself.

“I wish I could have known him then,” I said, looking out the window. “I feel like a fool because I wasted the time that we had together before the demon. I figured we had all the time in the world and now it seems like I’ve been given a second chance.” I was taking a risk, being so honest with Uncle Angus, but it felt right as I looked over at him again. “I’m not sure how, though. He’s not the same person that I met, not really. He isn’t a vampire anymore.”

I could almost see the inner workings of Uncle Angus’ mind grinding away as he expertly pulled into the grocery store and parked the car. “Aye, he’s different than he was, but not as much as ye might be thinking,” he said as he turned off the car and turned to face me. “It’s not easy being a father, and he didn’t have much practice before ye showed up, none that he remembered at any rate. Vampires are cold-blooded creatures; I’m sure he wasn’t all warm and cozy, now was he? Didn’t exactly fit the picture in yer mind of yer Da?”

I turned to face my uncle as well and I could feel my features pull together slightly as I thought about how to respond. I had never thought about what I had ever expected out of Mac before. Part of me still felt a certain amount of loyalty to my parents, that no one could ever take their place in my life. Another part felt the familiarity I found in Mac and Eliza.

“Mac is nothing like my Dad. Er, I guess I should say that he _wasn’t_ anything like my Dad. There was always something that he had to do…something that he needed to finish. I think he had a lot of responsibility in Salem with the vampires, but I’m not really sure. He tended to not say too much about it to me. I guess I was wrong for not speaking up and saying, ‘Hey, can you take just a minute so I can talk to you about this…or that…or whatever.’”

“It wasna yer Da’s choice to die that night in Baltimore, Corrine,” Uncle Angus said, using my name for the first time since we’d met. His face was set with the most solemn of expressions that made me understand clearly that he was being incredibly serious about what he was saying. “If he hadna fallen to the undead, he would have been there to bandage yer knees and yer heart when ye were a wee lass, ye keen that, don’t ye? Perhaps ye were too busy expecting Cormac to fail as a Da that ye didn’t give him a chance to compete with the man who raised ye. Or is that man so big in your heart that ye’ve no room for yer own flesh and blood?”

“No, that’s not it at all, Uncle,” I was quick to respond. “I’ll admit, I didn’t know what to think when I found out that my real father was a… vampire of all things. Not that it fundamentally changed the way I looked at him or anything; it just took some getting used to is all, like the fact that I have the ability to do some pretty cool stuff myself. I like to think that Mac would have been a good father if given the chance. Maybe he and Eliza will have the opportunity for that now that he’s mortal again…but that doesn’t change the fact that he wasn’t there. And Diana as my witness, I’m not holding that against him. He didn’t have a choice and I know that.”

I looked down at my hands, taking a moment to figure out how to word what I about to say. “I wasn’t expecting Mac to fail as a father since I didn’t know what to expect from him anyway. Does that make sense? I pretty much knew that I was adopted my whole life and I knew how blessed I was to have Mom and Dad as my parents. But they don’t know anything about what I am or that I come from an entire family of mages…and werewolves,” I added with a grin and Uncle Angus smiled as well. “I’d like to keep it that way until I have a choice to tell them in my own way. I guess the trouble that I’m having is keeping the balance.”

“So ye haven’t told them ye found yer Da’s family at all?” he asked astonished.

“No. I didn’t know how to explain to them that I had found my real father…and oh, by the way he’s a vampire. Much less the fact that before he became one he was a mage…from a family of Mages…and werewolves.” I wasn’t trying to be a smart ass. I just wanted to express that I didn’t know how to explain the whole story to my parents, so it was best and easier to not say anything for now. But that was getting hard.

“Of course, he’s not a vampire anymore, so that’s no longer an issue. Are ye ashamed to tell them what ye are?”

It was my turn to shake my head. “Not at all. I just don’t know how to tell them. I also wondered if keeping it a secret wasn’t the best thing anyhow. Did you know that the Tremere sent someone to the farm to ask about Eliza? I don’t want them hurt, Uncle. And if I have to lie to them I will. I just don’t know…”

Uncle Angus seemed sympathetic as he reached out to take my hand. “There’s no need to tell them what ye are, lass. As to telling them about us, it’s not gonna change the way they feel about ye, is it? Or ye about them? Telling them the truth about us, all or half of it, isn’t going to put them in less or more danger.”

I thought about what he said for a minute and had to admit that it did make sense, but I still wasn’t totally convinced. “Do you really think so? I really hate not telling them. I mean, if you were me, would you just tell them that I found my family? What about the other stuff?”

He shrugged. “I suppose ye could tell them the family’s known for living long, drinking’ hard, and toastin’ the mornin’ sun with a bit of whisky, but it might put them off,” he joked with a grin. “Next to that, werewolves, dream walkers and half vampires don’t sound too bad, does it?”

I laughed out loud at that one. “No, not really,” I said, squeezing his hand. “Thank you for listening. Sorry to bog you down with all this.” 

“Don’t be worryin’ about it, lass. Ye’re wee troubles are nothing compared to that monster of a shopping list yer grandma gave us,” he said in all seriousness as he looked down at the enormous list I held in my other hand. “Think we can handle it, or should we call in reinforcements?”

I tried to adopt his tone, but the grin on my face gave me away. “Oh, I think it will be a stretch, but we can manage.”


	3. Getting to Know You

_I will keep your secrets safe_   
_ Poe - Dear Johnny_

I was ready to have a real talk with Mac after my little outing with Uncle Angus. Later that afternoon I found him and Gwrhyr out on The Point, a secluded area on my grandparent’s property that overlooked the Atlantic Ocean. It was a very tranquil spot and one that every member of the family came to at some point to connect with Gaia. I loved it here.

“Hey Mac, what are you doing?” I asked quietly as I approached them, hoping that I wasn’t interrupting anything important between the pair. Mac and the wolf had been practically inseparable since his return and I didn’t want to intrude on what looked like could be a training session. Mac was sitting crossed legged on the cold ground and Gwrhyr was sitting across from him.

Mac looked up at me and smiled briefly and then returned his gaze to the wolf. “Could you please give us some privacy?” he asked the animal. Gwrhyr nodded in his half wolf, half man way then glanced up at me.

_“Greetings, Corrinemacenzie,”_ he said in my mind, a second before disappearing from my sight all together. Like he hadn’t even been there at all.

I blinked in surprise but knew that I really shouldn’t be. It only seemed natural that since he was Mac’s guide that the wolf would have some kind of mystical abilities himself. So, he could disappear with a thought? Okay, that’s cool and handy if you really thought about it. My gaze drifted over to Mac again and I saw that he was grinning at me now.

“Nothing now,” he said, finally answering my initial question as if it wasn’t a big deal that the wolf had carried out his request. “What's up, luv? You and that heap of your Uncle Angus finish the shopping?”

I laughed outright at that his blasé attitude and sat down next to him. “Yes, we’ve finished,” I informed him as I settled myself to closely mimic his cross-legged position and glanced over at him. “Uncle Angus is a really good listener and his advice isn’t too bad, either.” I fell silent for a moment as I found myself just looking at Mac for the first time in a while. As if I needed to remind myself that he was really here. Really back from the dead. It was something that I had noticed the rest of the family doing as well, with Mac and Uncle Angus both, and I hoped I didn’t make him uncomfortable. “I’m really glad you’re back,” I told him for what I was sure was the fiftieth time.

Mac reached over and put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him so he could kiss my temple. “I’m glad to be back,” he said with a sigh before continuing in a tone that didn’t reflect a happy mood. “I’ll see what I can do about making it last a little longer.”

He shook himself, as if he realized that he was being a party pooper and attempted to perk up. “So, just out fer a wee trip around the property?” he teased, allowing the Irish accent he normally didn’t use to come out.

“No. I was looking for you.” I dropped my head to rest it on his shoulder as I looked out over The Point at the incredible beauty Gaia offered to us. “I was hoping we could get a few minutes together.”

“Well child, here we are. What’s on your mind?”

I rubbed my cheek against the soft flannel of his jacket sleeve and wondered how best to start as I slipped my arm around his waist. I could feel the cold that he now emanated all the time, but I was used to the fact that he was cold to the touch, so it didn’t bother me. What was odd was that he now warmed up after a while. “You’re warm,” I said after I felt it. I took a deep breath before I spoke again. “When you died I felt a hole in my life that I’ve never felt before. Of course, my first concern was for Eliza…I had to be sure that she wouldn’t do something to join you… I can’t imagine what it was like for her to loose you twice and I don’t ever want to find out.”

I lifted my head and looked up at him. “After the worst was over I realized how I had wasted our time together in Salem. I thought that we had all the time in the world to… you know… spend time together. Do you know what I mean?”

He didn’t say anything as I talked and just having him listening and holding me was nice. “You didn’t waste any time,” he assured me, squeezing my shoulders slightly. “I wouldn’t change a single moment of it.” He paused, then asked, “How could you have known this would happen?”

“It shouldn’t have mattered,” I insisted. “I know that I’m eager to learn about magick and that I’m going to school, but that shouldn’t have stopped me from getting to know you.” I took a deep breath and said something I didn’t think I ever told him before. “You’re my father… and even though Mom and Dad are my parents, that doesn’t mean that I don’t want a father/daughter relationship with you.”

He grinned in my direction and squeezed me again. “I’m not planning on going anywhere for a long time, Corrine, so we’ll have a good long time to catch up. Where do you want to start?”

I hugged him back and laugh slightly. “That’s good to know. I don’t know… what exactly happens to you now? Everyone is talking about your destiny. What can I do to help?”

“Destiny,” he snorted, letting me know that he hadn’t changed in the amount of credit he gave the thought of his life being planned out already. “Ya do know I've never believed in it, don't ya? Never gave it a second thought. But... here I am. Back from the... well, back. Again.”

He looked at the spot where Gwrhyr had sat and continued, “With a mystic wolfie guide and all. Somethin’ out there must have a plan for me. As for you my little one,” he said as he leaned over to kiss my cheek. “I think you’re doing your part to help right now.”

I reached up to move aside a lock of hair that had fallen onto his forehead. “Oh yeah? How’s that? By being a royal pain?” I asked with a bright smile on my face.

He laughed and the sound filled my heart with love for him. “No, no. By just bein’ yourself. If there is such a thing as Destiny, I damn well sure ain’t looking for it! It’ll have to find me if it wants me to do something.”

I didn’t want to put a damper on the moment, but I knew I wouldn’t sleep well if I didn’t ask. “Speaking of things looking for you, what about the Tremere?” I inquired in a low voice. “Are you guys going back to the island to live?”

The question didn’t seem to faze Mac at all. “I’m sure I can come up with something to keep them out. But mostly I am hoping that if I don’t get in their face, they won’t get in mine.”

I looked down to the leg of his faded jeans and ran a finger over the texture of the material that had softened with many washings. “James stopped by my apartment after the… um, funeral. He said he was there to give his condolences, but he kept asking about Eliza.” I knew that I had a worried look on my face, but I also had an idea that Eliza wouldn’t have told him about the Tremere yet. She would have wanted to shelter him from the knowledge as long as possible, but I didn’t think he would appreciate it anymore than I would.

“They will only find out that you’re back if one of us tells them and I really don’t see that happening, but they are looking for Eliza. Someone was out at the farm asking, too. Do you think if I told someone that she was dead that they would believe it? That she was so grief stricken that she ended her life? They would have to let it go then, right?”

If it were possible Mac pulled me even closer to him. “It might be worth a try, but if the Clan wants something bad enough, they won’t be dissuaded very easily.” He chuckled slightly. “Hell, even death isn’t permanent anymore.”

“That’s true, but I don’t want you both to worry about them,” I told him, trying to show him that I could be looked at as an equal in this situation. “I’m sure that Grandfather can help you with something. Think about my suggestion and let me know if you want me to drop the story in the right ear.” I fell silent for a moment as I remembered something that I had overheard Mac and Grandfather talking about and wondered if I dared ask about it. “What’s that ‘belated’ thing that you were talking to Grandfather about?” I asked, taking the plunge and holding my breath.

Mac sighed deeply and was silent, obviously thinking about how to answer. When he finally looked at me I could see the hurt in his eyes. “Can I tell you after we get it fixed?” he asked earnestly. “Just know it was done with good intentions. It is serious and if it happens...” he dropped off and shook his head slowly.

I could see that the subject really bothered him, and I felt my features wrinkle slightly with concern as I regarded him thoughtfully. “Well, okay,” I finally conceded slowly, not really willing to wait, but knowing that he would never tell me if he wasn’t ready. “But if there is anything I can do to help, I will. If it’s involving Eliza, I’ll do whatever I can. Goddess knows she’s been there enough for me and I would do whatever I had to in order to make things right for her again.”

In an attempt to once again lighten the mood between us, I gave Mac a slight shove in the ribs with my shoulder. “I’m sure that whatever it is, Grandfather can fix it,” I told him.

“I’m worried about him too,” I continued, not wanting to add to Mac’s worries, but realizing that he would want to know about what had happened while he was gone. “Everything that’s happened seems to have put a strain on him. How old is he anyway? I don’t think anyone has ever said.”

Mac sighed again. "Yea, even magick canna keep age at bay forever,” he said with a slight grin. “Let’s just say Da’s seen over a century and leave it there.” He leaned toward me like he was about to whisper a secret. “He dosena really like to be reminded.”

Over a hundred years old? The idea made me laugh in disbelief as she leaned into him as well. “Are you serious? What about Grandmother?”

“Ma is an old-fashioned lady; you never ask their age.” He grinned again. “And if you do, watch yer back side for the wooden spoon. Only her and Da know for sure. All I do know for sure is that they looked this way when Sean was born.” He lowered his voice before saying, “Though you’ll do to not repeat his name.”

“Who is Sean?” I had never heard of anyone in the family named Sean.

Mac took a deep breath as he pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. “Sean was my older brother. He was killed the year before I was born, in Germany.”

I couldn’t have been more surprised. “Older brother? Oh my god, I never knew.” I glanced over the edge of The Point in astonishment. “What happened to him?”

“He joined the army in ‘39, and was killed in ‘43,” Mac explained. “He’s buried over there somewhere. He left ‘cause him and Da got into some fight. Over what, I don’t know.”

I listened intently; wanting to know all I could about this mysterious uncle I had never known existed. “That doesn’t sound like Grandfather, does it? It must have been something big, then. Grandmother must have been devastated.”

“Neither of them will talk of ‘im,” Mac confessed, and then eyed me with a warning in his eyes. “And I’d advise you to let it be. I found a picture of the three of ‘em once, when I was a lad, taken when Sean was a babe. And another of him about 13. I brought ‘em down and asked Ma and Da who he was…” his mouth hung open, but nothing came out.

I waited for him to answer, but when one isn’t forthcoming I turned to face him more fully.

“Was he a hunter then?” I asked. “Like Glenn and you and Eliza were? Did he abuse his powers or something? I mean it would have to be something pretty bad if they won’t even talk about him…”

I was talking more to myself then to Mac, trying to figure out the great mystery behind no one talking about Sean. I almost didn’t hear Mac when he spoke.

Mac took a hit from the cigarette. “No, he was nothing. Normal.”

I went still as his words sunk in, then looked at him in amazement. “Normal?” I asked surprisingly. “Nothing. Not a mage… or a werewolf?” I looked out over the ocean again. “Wow, I’d never thought of that. I guess I just took it for granted that everyone in the family was SOMETHING…” Which was true. At first I thought it was amazing to come from a family where you were either a mage, or a werewolf, or a Dhampyr. But to be nothing… normal in every sense of the word… I could see where he might have had an issue with everyone else.

Mac looked a little uncomfortable. “I believe he was... something. Nothing supernatural or the like, but rather he was meant to teach a lesson.” He paused for a moment. “I can but guess what that lesson was. Or still is.”

He looked at me then and his grin was back in place. “Someday when yer heap Uncle has had his fill o’ the pint, and starts singing sad songs, you may well get him to tell you more.” He pulled me closer again. “Cause he knows more about such things than he lets on.”

I looked up at him again and barely caught his wink before it was gone. “As do I, but we will not be alone for much longer. Your grandmother is heading this way.” He tossed the cigarette off the cliff and wiped his hands on his jeans. “Was there anything else you wanted to talk about, luv?”

I thought for a moment as I lowered my cheek to his shoulder again. “Not really. I… I don’t know. I’m just glad to have you back. I love you, Mac.”

I heard him murmur that he loved me, and we sat in silence for a few moments before we heard Grandmother enter the clearing with Gwrhyr trotting beside her. She told us that dinner would be ready soon and that we should get back to the house to wash up.

Mac and I stood and headed back with her. I felt more confident that I was on my way to developing a stronger relationship with my father. There didn’t seem to be any boundaries between us, and I felt glad for that. Mac teased Grandmother about something that I didn’t catch because my head was filled with thoughts. A small twinge of guilt actually that had nothing really to do with Mac and everything to do with my Dad. Guilt that I could and did share the truth of my life with Mac and Eliza, but not with my parents.

Since there wasn’t much I could do about it at the moment, I decided I would have to deal with it later, like after I returned to Salem. Uncle Angus and Mac had given me a great deal to think about, but for now I had Mac back and the family was whole again. I would think about my parents, and what I might or might not tell them, later.

~*~*~*~*~

The following week was spent being with family and friends. My grandparents allowed word to leak out to selected people about what had happened, so usually there were close family friends as guests for dinner. Their faces I had only seen a couple of months earlier at Mac’s funeral, but now they were filled with joy at the brother’s return. My Grandfather was sure to tell each of them not to divulge that Mac and Uncle Angus were back from the dead and they were all quick to agree. No one wanted the Tremere to catch wind of the knowledge and come knocking on one of our doors.

I found out during that week that Gwrhyr could only talk to mages and werewolves, leaving Eliza out of the loop. Grandfather made a talisman for her to wear so she could communicate with him instead. I found it quite fascinating to find a mystical beastie in our midst, but I refrained from asking too many questions and seeming rude. There was plenty of time for that and besides, he was Mac’s guide, not mine.


	4. Pizza, Beer and Dreaming Don’t Mix

_Come here_  
_Pretty please_  
_Can you tell me where I am_  
_ Poe - Haunted_

I knew I was dreaming because I could still feel the upset stomach I’d had when I went to sleep, but the queasiness felt different. It was a vague awareness, but one that made me put my hand over my lower abdomen anyhow as I walked into the dream world bar. It was O’Grady’s, the pub in Galway where we had gone the previous evening for a celebration of pizza and beer before everyone went back home that next day. The same pizza that had left me feeling like a lead weight had taken up residence in my gut before going to sleep and caused me to have this strange dream to begin with.

Inside, the pub was packed full of people and they all seemed to be talking all at once. As I moved toward the back of the building through the crowd, I was no longer in the pub in Galway, but in some working-class bar that I didn’t recognize. The people stayed the same around me, but as I continued to press my way in further, the bar kept changing and more frequently with each step I took. Some of the interiors I recognized, like the pub that flashed by a few more times, the bar in Nashville that I had been to once with Jared, and Jesters in Salem where the Black Rose Coven liked to hang out. The other places I didn’t recognize, but the effect of motion wasn’t helping my stomach and my arm tightened around my abdomen.

I felt as if something were pulling me forward, so I pushed my way even deeper into the press of bodies. Finally, the noise started to lessen, and I was able to pick out individual voices. I couldn’t identify any of them, but I was able to tell by body language and facial expressions that they weren’t happy about something.

I saw someone a few feet away from me that looked like Bobby Lonetree, a werewolf friend of Glenn and Siofra’s from Nashville. I tried to get his attention as he looked out over the crowd from the chair that he was standing on, but he never looked my way. I stumbled over my own feet a little and tried to catch myself on the shoulder of a man sitting at a table that I was passing, but my hand passed right through him.

It was then that I knew that I was probably in someone else’s dream. Jared had begun to take me through some low-level training exercises in dream walking as part of my studies, but I wasn’t allowed to go out on my own yet. I knew that people and objects wouldn’t always be solid in anyone’s dream, but if you were visiting someone else’s, nine times out of ten you wouldn’t be able to touch anything. But whose dream I was in I didn’t know.

I had a feeling that I would find out who if I continued to follow the pull that was leading me toward the back of the building, so I pressed on. The yelling of the crowd picked up again and I recognized a group of people that were sitting at a nearby table. I knew them from pictures I had been shown at Glenn and Siofra’s. They were friends of Glenn’s that had been killed during the time when Mac had first come to America and they all hunted vampires together.

“Traitor,” I heard one of them yell in the direction I was heading as they raised fists to wave them in a threatening manner.

“Murderer,” came from another as the group of them started to shout all at once, making it impossible for me to decipher anything else. I craned my neck to see who they were talking about, but all I saw was the constant press of people around me, so I kept pushing my way through them.

Then I saw Jared off to one side. His face was awash with emotion and hatred like I had never seen in the time I have known him. He opened his mouth and vehemently shouted something in the same direction as the others, but all I was able to hear was, “left us all to die.”

At another table I saw Mac’s vampire sister, Christina Kline, and her husband Jason sitting with and older gentleman who looked forlornly over one shoulder in the same direction that the others were shouting toward. Sadly, he turned his gaze back to the glass of blood sitting on the table in front of him. Christina had her hand on the man’s shoulder as if she were attempting to comfort him, all the while glaring off at whatever was happening to make the man so sad. Jason, obviously upset by his wife’s distress, stood and yelled, “He should have never given you the gift. You don’t deserve it.”

The next table held Glenn, Siofra, and Bobby, who had made his way to the table without me seeing him. They were angry and sad at the same time. I heard Siofra yell out, “How could you have allowed it to happen?” I looked ahead of me, but I still couldn’t see who all the insults were being thrown at through the crowd.

Sitting together at another table was James Price and a man that I didn’t know. He was young and good looking and dressed in a suit similar in design to the one that James was wearing, but he didn’t hold himself in the same manner as Mac’s childe. He looked strangely familiar to me and I realized that I had seen him following me a few times in Salem after Mac’s death. I wondered who he was at the same moment that I remembered that Mac had taken on another ghoul just before he and Eliza left for that last trip Europe. I figured that had to be Eddie, the man that had helped Eliza escape.

Even from this distance I could see that James had his fangs dropped and that the other man was cleaning off an ornate dagger of some sort that he easily twisted in his deft fingers.

“He took my life from me,” I heard James say to his companion as he adjusted his tie and sat back comfortably in the chair. “I could have done so much more.”

“He left me masterless again,” the other man countered with an unmanly pout. “Do you know how hard it is to find a good master?”

I was finally nearing the back wall of the bar when I saw my Grandparents, Uncle Angus, Aunt Cara, Stephen, and myself sitting at the next to last table. We were all facing the last two tables and I heard my Grandfather harshly say, “I didn’t raise you to act this way boy! What were you thinking?”

My Grandmother was weeping openly so that she had to be supported by my Grandfather and Uncle Angus. “Look at what you’ve done!” Stephen roared as he jumped to his feet and pointed at Grandmother. “How could you do this to her?!”

I knew that the last table had to hold at least one of them, but just the same, I was surprised to see Eliza sitting alone, with her back to me. I was scared when I saw that she was bleeding profusely from many slashes on her arms and back. I rushed forward to stand by her side and saw more gashes on her chest, but none of them appeared to be fatal, just torturous. I wanted to touch her, but I knew that my hand would only pass through her, so I didn’t.

“You left me alone,” she said, looking straight ahead of her, completely oblivious of my presence next to her. “Not once, but twice. You left me with a baby and no way to take care of her, you bastard. Then you talked me into this...”

I didn’t have to look to know that it was Mac sitting at the table by the wall, but I did anyhow. He sat there alone, facing the rest of the hate filled crowd and taking it all in without argument. He was weeping openly. Sometimes, when the light changed around him, the tears looked like blood.

I wanted to go to him and sooth him.

I left Eliza and went to the table to sit next to him, knowing full well that he wouldn’t be aware of my presence beside him, but feeling that I could help him anyhow. When I looked at Eliza again she was looking down at the table, her hair falling on either side of her face and blood dripping from her lips. She lifted her head suddenly and looked up; right at me it seemed, with sharp, vampiric fangs protruding from her open mouth. They glistened with red blood that now dripped down her chin and onto the table and her shirt.

I screamed in terror at the sight of her in the form that I knew she would rather die than become, and I shot upright in bed, my heart thundering in my chest like a stampede of wild horses. I was fully awake now and scared out of my mind. I had no doubt that I had just been in Mac’s dreams, but I was having a hard time understanding what had happened around me. The obvious conclusion was that the accusations voiced by his friends and family in the dream didn’t show how any of us actually felt, instead they were voicing the arguments he must be having with himself.

I looked at the clock next to the bed and saw that it was almost four in the morning. There was no way in hell that I was going to be able to go back to sleep anytime soon, so I grabbed my robe and put it on as I crept downstairs, intending to make a cup of tea that I hoped would calm my nerves and stop my hands from shaking. I had a feeling that seeing Eliza like that was going to haunt me for a while and I wondered what her presence like that meant to Mac.

I skidded to a halt in the doorway to the kitchen when I saw Mac sitting at the table, looking out the large picture window with his back to me. If I hadn’t been sure that the dream I had stepped into was his before, the way he was dejectedly sitting in the chair would have confirmed it for me. He was slouching in a way that I know Grandmother wouldn’t have allowed at her table, one foot kicked out in front of him under the table and his right hand resting on the placemat before him.

“Hey,” I whispered as I entered the room and he turned slightly to look at me over his shoulder, his lips tilting slightly in greeting. “What are you doing up so early?” I asked as I crossed the room to the stove where I turned on the burner under the kettle that my grandmother always kept full. I already had an idea why he was up, but I wanted to see if he would broach the subject on his own. After all, I shouldn’t have been in his dream to begin with and it seemed rude to bring it up out of the blue. I kind of felt like a peeping Tom.

“Morning, luv,” he replied as he fingered a frayed corner of one of the placemats on the table. “Just couldn’t sleep anymore. What has you up at this hour?”

He was lying, but I chose to not confront him with it for the moment. I moved to his side and hesitantly touched his shoulder. “Weird dream. I couldn’t go back to sleep,” I told him. “I thought I’d have a cup of Grandmother’s tea.”

Mac smiled as he gently covered my hand with his and squeezed it tenderly. “Yeah, I have weird dreams after eating pizza late, too. Want to talk about it?”

I looked down at him, then dropped so that I was squatting beside him. The haunted look in his gaze was all the further confirmation I needed as I turned my hand in his so that our palms touched. “It was you, wasn’t it?” I whispered.

He looked away quickly, shame and anguish visible in his hazel eyes. “What was me?” he asked.

Usually I thought that using magick against a friend or family member was wrong, but I knew how stubborn Mac could be and how he didn’t like to share what he was thinking about. I looked over at the flame on the stove and used it as a focus to change my thoughts to become one with his. I didn’t want to read into his deepest recesses or anything, I just wanted to be there for him after having what I knew had to be a horrific dream for him. I could still see Eliza with fangs and the vision left a chill in my spine.

As I had suspected he was ashamed and embarrassed by the things he thought people had said to him in his subconscious. He was very shaken by the experience, but I could feel the love that he felt for me at being here with him. “I cannot speak for anyone else,” I told him, trying to hold his gaze in mine, but his eyes moved away, “I would never think, much less say those things to you. You know that, right?”

The pretenses were gone as Mac’s gaze met mine and he spoke quietly. “Aye. But it was me thinking them. My own conscience.” He turned his head away in shame.

I put my hand on the side of his face and turned it until he looked at me. “We are only human,” she said, then rolled my eyes as I realized we weren’t really, and continued, “in a sense, anyhow. We aren’t perfect by any means and we shouldn’t expect to be. You can’t hang onto thoughts that you were wrong for any of your actions because you have always looked to make the right decisions. You’ve never let me down, Mac, or anyone else for that matter. Anything that has ever happened that may have hurt the people you love wasn’t you’re fault. Bad things happen sometimes. It’s what we do afterward that matters.”

Mac wordlessly pulled me into his arms and hugged me tightly against him. We stayed that way for a time and as I felt his heart beat next to mine I knew that we were going to be okay. It had been less than a week. There were lots of things that everyone needed to adjust to now that Mac and Uncle Angus had returned.

He grinned when we finally pulled apart. “Ya do know its poor manners to be walkin’ uninvited or without good cause,” he said, trying his best to imitate Grandfather’s voice for his warning.

I smiled guiltily as my eyes met his. “I didn’t mean it. Really. I’ve never done that on my own before. Jared has led me through some exercises before, but always with strict guidelines. I don’t know how I ended up in your dream.” Thankfully, before he had a chance to lecture me further, the teakettle started to whistle, and I stood and touched his face with the tips of my fingers. “Do you want me to make you a cup of tea?”

He smiled, all traces of what he was about to say leaving him, but only on the surface. “Yes, luv. So, you’ve never done that before?”

“Not like that,” I informed him in an excited, but low voice, so as to not wake anyone. I went to the cupboard and pulled out the tea things. “Jared has led me through some exercises, but he always makes sure that I promised not to try on my own. He and Rachel have been careful that Sam and I aren’t pushing ourselves too much.” Expertly, I made the tea and brought the two cups to the table, then sat next to him.

Mac brought the cup to his lips and blew before taking a small sip. “So, how _are_ your studies going?”

I smiled. “They’re fine. It’s a lot of work, but it’s a good work, you know?” It was nice to talk to him about my magickal studies and to see the pride in his eyes as I spoke. It was something I wished I could share with my Dad because I knew I would see the same pleasure in his expression as well.

Mac’s lips spread in a small smile. “Yeah, I remember,” he replied wistfully. There was a hint of remorse in his voice that reminded me that he had once been a mage himself, and that years ago he had gone through the same things I was going through now.

I didn’t want to cause him to remember anything else that would trouble him further, so I reached over and put my hand over his. “How are you coming with Gwrhyr? Learning anything there?”

He shrugged. “I’m getting the basics good enough, but... I still have all the knowledge from all my other abilities bouncing around in me head. It’s a little confusing at times.”

It was a huge admission for Mac. I looked compassionately at him and squeezed his hand as I smiled reassuringly. “Do you remember everything from before you were a vampire now, too?”

“Aye,” Mac replied softly. “Everything.”

I sat quietly for a moment, allowing a comfortable silence to fall between us as we drank our tea. Finally, I said, “I know that I’ve said this before, but if you ever want to talk about anything, I’m here. I know that Gwrhyr is supposed to be your guide, or whatever, but if you want me to do something… anything… I will.”

He reached for my hand again. “I know you would luv. I know.”

I glanced out the window and wondered how long it would be before the sun came up. “We should probably go back to sleep. I’m surprised that Grandmother hasn’t heard us yet.”

He smiled. “You go on; I think I’m up for the day.”

I yawned widely and stretched before I stood and took my cup to the sink to rinse it. “Actually, a shower sounds wonderful right now. Why don’t we meet back here in twenty minutes and go for a walk? I love Ireland in the spring, and I want to soak in as much green as possible before I go back to Salem.”

Mac smiled and nodded, his whole face agreeing to the idea. “Deal.”

It was actually closer to forty minutes before we met back in the kitchen and surprisingly enough, the house was still asleep. It felt like Mac and I had the world to ourselves for a time as we were headed out to The Point for a quick look. Gwrhyr joined us, his tongue lolling out of one side of his mouth in a way that was almost animal in nature compared to his usual human characteristics. He told us how he too loved the waking earth in spring and cajoled Mac and I until we raced the rest of the way to The Point, the wolf winning with his natural agility.

The morning was glorious. The sun was rising at our backs, causing the sea to reflect the orange and pink streaks of the new day sky and I felt the power of Gaia fill me as we stood in silence. As I held my father’s hand, I thanked the Great Mother again for bringing him and Uncle Angus back into our lives. I didn’t know what the future held for us, but I did know one thing for certain, I wouldn’t be seeing the haunted look in Eliza’s gaze anymore and as long as that held I could deal with anything.

**Author's Note:**

> My gaming group has always played fast and loose with the White Wolf rules, including lots of things we see in various TV shows, movies and books. We were playing mostly in the late 1990s and early 2000s so we use/used the editions available at that time. 
> 
> We also threw all the 'By Night' rules out of the window and created our own rulers in our cities. Some of the cannon White Wolf characters may show up from time to time, but don't expect them to be like the books. 
> 
> I'll be separating these stories both by character and by city, so some stories may be listed under multiple Series under my profile here on AO3. 
> 
> If you're interested in learning more about our world 'After Dark' please visit my website at www.whendarknessfalls.net.


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